Jarome Iginla introduced to Bruins-Canadiens

Wednesday

May 14, 2014 at 10:40 PMMay 14, 2014 at 11:22 PM

BOSTON — Having spent the majority of his career in Calgary, Jarome Iginla didn't have much of a history with the heated rivalry between the Bruins and Canadiens. But he had a pretty good idea of what to expect entering the Stanley Cup playoff series between the two Original Six outfits.

By Rich Garven TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

BOSTON — Having spent the majority of his career in Calgary, Jarome Iginla didn't have much of a history with the heated rivalry between the Bruins and Canadiens.

But he had a pretty good idea of what to expect entering the Stanley Cup playoff series between the two Original Six outfits.

"As the series goes on, it builds," Iginla said. "It is fun to play in the playoffs because of the game within the game — the lines against each other, defensemen against certain lines. It just builds as it goes on, and each game gets more important, the rivalry grows, the dislike for each other grows and just wanting to knock the other team out. There's a lot on the line, and those games are the most fun to play in."

That's some impressive puck prognosticating.

The B's and Habs battled and beat on each other to the point where their Eastern Conference semifinal series was decided by Montreal in Game 7 on Wednesday night at TD Garden.

And the dislike did indeed deepen between the two teams, which is saying something considering the contempt they already had for one other. That was best exemplified by the Canadiens spending the past two days complaining about the lack of respect the Bruins had shown them.

Coach Claude Julien declined to enter the verbal fray — "we're not going to start the he-said, she-said kind of thing" — but didn't seem to have a problem with any of the yapping.

"If I look at the other series that are going on — I mean, this is playoff hockey," Julien said. "I don't see anything different from our series and the other series. It's as simple as that.

"I know we'd like to make more of it but the tension, the intensity, the rivalry is there, so I think what we're seeing is what we should expect."

Game 7 history

The Bruins played in a Game 7 for the 25th time in franchise history, with 20 of those skates coming at the Garden. They are now 13-12 overall and 12-8 at home.

Defensemen Zdeno Chara has the most Game 7 experience among the current Bruins. This was his 11th. He contributed three assists and collected four wins in the first 10.

Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic both came in with six points in eight career Game 7s.

The Canadiens played in their 23rd Game 7. They are 14-9 overall and 6-6 on the road.

This was the ninth Game 7 between these ancient ice rivals, the Canadiens now holding a 6-3 advantage. That's the most between two teams in the four major pro sports leagues in North America.

Bear Facts

According to seatgeek.com, tickets for Game 7 were averaging $381 on the secondary market. That made it the most expensive ducat of the playoffs thus far. … The Canadiens charged fans $10 to watch Game 7 at the Bell Centre with the money going to charity. The sold all 21,273 seats. … Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg took contact in practice Monday for the first time since blowing out his right knee Dec. 23.